XBee modules include a bit of analog and digital I/O
that can be accessed using AT commands. What worked
out really well for this project — because we wanted to
keep the remote as simple as possible — is that a remote
XBee's I/O can be accessed even if it's not connected to a
host microcontroller.

What this meant is that we could create a remote
with just an XBee, a pushbutton, a potentiometer, a power
switch, and a set of batteries. Figure 6 is the diagram I
Yes, the device is supposed to look home-built and
kind of retro. Matt did a fantastic job of fabrication and
programming the prop. The display animation is
wonderful. In the works, he also used my WX28xx pixel
driver and a SEETRON OLED driver that I wrote for the
display he chose.

To access the remote, we use the Remote AT frame
type ($17) with a command string of “IS” (queried